On an epic Sunday, two major European title races were about to be decided on the final round of the season. Although the Premier League fixtures kicked off an hour earlier, it was the Scudetto title that was wrapped and sealed first. “How so?” one might ask. Well, the answer is simple. While Manchester City and Liverpool were still embroiled in a dramatic photo-finish finale, Milan had already scored thrice by the 36th minute at the Mapei Stadium, meaning that Sassuolo would have had to score four goals to miraculously turn the tide in Inter’s favor.
Of course this highly unlikely scenario was never going to ensue, and Stefano Pioli’s men confidently marched towards the finish line and to lift their 19th league title. But while watching the Rossoneri breath past their Emilian rivals, one might get the sense that the Rossoneri had it easy, which surely is a completely unprecise assessment.
In fact, the title race between the two crosstown rivals was the tightest in recent memory and could have gone either way, but was ultimately decided by a handful of moments. So here are five matches that tipped the scale in Milan’s favor in a chronological order.
Inter 1-2 Milan (Round 24)
Before the second Derby della Madonnina, the momentum was largely in favor of Inter. Two rounds prior the big clash, Milan had suffered a controversial last-gasp defeat at the hands of Spezia before settling for a goalless draw with Juventus in round 23.
So when Ivan Perisic gave Simone Inzaghi’s men the lead, it appeared as if the Nerazzurri were going to run away with the Serie A lead. Nevertheless, Olivier Giroud wasn’t going to stand witness to a such scenario, and he managed to turned the match (and subsequently the whole campaign) upside down with two goals in the space of three minutes.
Napoli 0-1 Milan (Round 28)
During the final stretch of the season, Napoli regressed into an afterthought in the title race, with the two Milanese giants going head-to-head for the Italian crown.
Nonetheless, it should be remembered that the southerners were in the mix for the majority of the campaign, and the picture on top of the standings would have looked very different had they managed to overcome Stefano Pioli’s at the Maradona Stadium.
But once again, it was Giroud himself who decided the six-pointer, leaving the Partenopei as mere outsiders in the grand scheme of things.
Lazio 1-2 Milan (Round 34)
After dropping points left and right, Milan once again appeared to be drifting in the wrong direction, while Inter were confidently climbing the ranks.
Therefore, the Rossoneri made the trip to the Italian capital with their morale at an all-time low, and Ciro Immobile’s early opener piled more misery on the shaky giants.
Luckily for the new champions, Giroud (who else?) found an equalizer after the restart, and following a flurry of missed chances, Sandro Tonali emerged as the unlikely hero by snatching a winner in added-time, which might arguably be the single most important goal of the entire Serie A campaign.
Bologna 2-1 Inter (Round 20)
For the larger part of the campaign, Milan were able to maintain the lead in the Serie A standings, but Inter were always quick to remind us of having an extra match in hand. So three days following the Diavolo’s win over Lazio, the Nerazzurri could have usurped them in the table by beating a Bologna side that had little to play for.
Nevertheless, the Rossoblu chose to fight for their absent manager Sinisa Mihajlovic who’s in the midst of a whole different battle, and they shockingly emerged victorious following a howler from Inter’s second choice goalkeeper Ionut Radu much to the dismay of the black and blue supporters.
Milan 1-0 Fiorentina (Round 35)
Four days following Inter’s surprising defeat, Milan became the undeniable league leaders, and only had to maintain their composure and assemble 10 out of 12 points from the four final rounds to book their first Scudetto party in 11 years.
However, the schedule presented Pioli’s men with a one tough hurdle after the other. Now surely the home fixture against Atalanta wasn’t an easy one, nor was the come-from-behind win at Verona, but when Rafael Leao scored a late winner against Fiorentina, the energy at the San Siro was enough to convince the Rossoneri’s biggest detractor of their ability to go all the way towards a well-deserved triumph.
The Tuscans proved to be a resilient opponent, and Mike Maignan had to pull off some memorable saves to avoid an upset, but at the final whistle, the Rossoneri gained all the momentum they needed to achieve glory, and there was no going back afterwards.